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16.31 The inquiry rises until next week.

16.25Mr Brett said it had initially appeared that Mr Horton would not be taking the matter to court but Leveson suggested that made the matter worse.

Many people couldn't afford to take this sort of thing to law and therefore what the press have done, what The Times have done, using an illegal mechanism, had exposed some wrong on the basis that the person who was being wronged would not seek redress.

Doesn't that mean that you are justifying any route you wish to take to get a story, provided in the end it's true?

16.16 Tense exchange between Leveson and Mr Brett over statements made to the court in the injunction matter about how Mr Horton's name had been obtained being inaccurate.

The lawyer said Leveson was being "fantastically precise". The inquiry chairman shot back: "I am being precise because this is a statement being submitted to a court."

Mr Brett admitted that the statement was "not the full story".

16.04Mr Brett is questioned about a subsequent attempt by lawyers for the blogger, Richard Horton, to obtain an injunction to prevent him being named by The Times.

In a letter to Mr Horton's lawyers he said allegations that the journalist had a "history of making unauthorised access to email accounts" was "baseless".

Mr Brett said in his statement: "With hindsight I have to accept that the sentence is badly structured and I should not have used that word even if it was technically accurate according to Mr Foster."

15.38Mr Brett told the inquiry in a statement:

I do remember being furious with Mr Foster. I told him he had put TNL [Times Newspapers Ltd] and me into an incredibly difficult position.

15.23Mr Brett said that when reporter Patrick Foster told him he had obtained information about the police blogger NightJack by hacking into his email account, it raised "serious alarm bells" and he told the journalist: "If you ever do this again, you'll get the sack."

15.15Alastair Brett, former legal manager of Times Newspapers, now giving evidence.

14.57 "Draconian rules" banning informal contacts between police and the media would not be in the interest of police or the public, Mr Wright tells inquiry.

14.38Mr Wright says it would be "completely inappropriate" to "lavish hospitality" on a police officer although if meeting a senior officer for lunch he would be less likely to go to a "transport cafe".

14.29Mr Wright tells the inquiry:

There's no trickery involved in my crime reporting at all.

14.15Mr Wright said former colleagues in the CRA have been receiving "intimidating phone calls from a certain department in the Metropolitan Police demanding to know who sources are".

14.08 The inquiry resumes. Mr Wright said he had a "small influence" on the president of Police Superintendents Association inserting a reference to the Stephen Lawrence case into his speech to the association's annual conference in 1997 about the double jeopardy law.

The article was deemed by other people to be very poignant. I said to Rachel's partner that I would try and find out and use any influence I could to get some sort of investigation launched. I did show my article to a very senior officer and said, 'please read this.'

He goes on to say that he mentioned the case because he said there was so much attention on the negative side of the relationship between the police and the press.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Sean O'Neill - &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Leveson" target="_blank"&gt;#Leveson&lt;/a&gt;: "there are powerful tools available to the press that can and do dramtically help the pursuit of criminal justice in this country"&lt;/noframe&gt;

12.34 Asked how journalists build trust with police officers, Mr Wright replies: "It's not just what you are told and print, it's what you're told and don't print and that's a sign of trust."

He says if you get a reputation for being unprofessional, word gets around quickly.

12.27 Newspapers do not have the resources to do background research into investigations like that into Rose West, Mr Wright says.

"It's very sad," he tells the inquiry. "I enjoyed having rivalry with other journalists and other news organisations.

"Some of the stuff we heard in that trial, which wasn't printed, I will never forget. It was appalling but it was also very important to investigate all aspects of that case."

He says the Mail can still devote the same resources to high-profile cases.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Ross Hawkins - Stephen Wright explaining v few papers have resources Mail had and has to do full background reporting on crime stories &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=leveson" target="_blank"&gt;#leveson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/noframe&gt;

12.23 Mr Wright says he was not convinced the CRA had access to briefings that provided more information than general reporters.

"I felt that the CRA briefings were a way for senior officers to control information, which went against my principles," he says.

12.20 As a member of the Crime Reporters Association (CRA), Mr Wright agrees he had "privileged" access to the police, and he describes how there might be a general briefing, followed by a CRA briefing.

12.16 The inquiry has resumed and the next witness is Stephen Wright from the Daily Mail. The inquiry is hearing about Mr Wright's awards for crime reporting.

12.08Mr Sullivan is cross-examined by the Met's counsel, Neil Garnham QC, on his claim there was a system of grading reporters at the Met. He insists he "reliably informed". He had now finished his evidence and there will be a short break.

12.03 Discussing the implications for democracy of the relationship between police and press, and police and politicians, Mr Sullivan says:

If you get to a position where police officers become agents of the state, I do think there is a real risk they will lose political independence and could be potentially utilised by the Government of the day for purposes that might not be in the interests of the general population. There are some real crucial points around the public profile of the police.

12.00 He is now being asked about about the murder of Daniel Morgan, the private investigator killed in 1987. A picture of Mr Morgan appeared in the Sun and Mr Jay asks how the paper obtained it.

Mr Sullivan replies: "A journalistic source."

11.58Mr Sullivan is asked whether he was aware of phone messages being intercepted at the News of the World. He says he was not.

11.55Lord Justice Leveson asks Mr Sullivan what kind of framework was needed. The Sun's Crime Editor said guidelines on acceptable behaviour would be "helpful".

He says there is a dilemma on occasions when he is invited to the retirement gathering for a police officer. "Would everyone present have to record the presence of me or any other journalist?" he asks.

Lord Justice Leveson suggests the only way around the problem would be for journalists and police to "not talk business" on social occasions.

11.51Mr Sullivan says he has changed his own practices over the years, particularly after hearign that one reporter set up a press officer to take the blame for a police leak. He said he is now cautious of communicating with a source about whom he may be writing a story.

There was one occasion where a reporter got quite a good story on a high profile murder investigation. He deliberately took out a press officer who was dealing with that particular investigation on the day before he then published his story around that investigation. The press officer got blamed for that but I subsequently learned that it wasn’t the press officer who leaked that.

11.48 Asked what he understands by the term "police source", Mr Sullivan admits it is not clear to whom this might refer.

"Police source could be anything," he says. "There is a lack of clarity around that."

But he declines to say anything more because there might be "ramifications around the police investigation".

11.44 Journalists were ranked by the Metropolitan Police, Mr Sullivan tells the inquiry. He declines to say who told him this.

Reporters are graded in terms of whether they’re favourable to the Metropolitan Police or not. I don’t know how they do that. I was told that that system existed and I believe it.

11.39Mr Sullivan says he was close to Andy Hayman and John Yates btu said wining and dining became increasingly rare over the last few years.

He says Fleet Street sobered up or police became more professional but denied crime reporters would put their credit cards behind the bar for police. It was more a case of journalists buying a round of drinks and officers buying a round of drinks at Daley's wine bar near Scotland Yard.

11.28 More from Mr Sullivan's witness statement now and he describes how he was often invited on raids or given notice of dawn briefings by police. But he also describes poor relationships between press and police:

I am told by colleagues who covered the story that phone lines to the Cumbria press office went unanswered for long periods of time in the days following the Derrick Bird shootings. The office itself was simply unoccupied and journalists were left trying to check stories without any means.

Very few forces outside London operate a press office at weekends because of resource issues and typically the duty inspector at headquarters control will deal with specific inquiries.

It can be frustrating when you are connected through to an inspector who tells you to ring back on Monday morning for an answer or comment on a story you are intending to publish that day. You can hardly blame the inspector as he will have more important matters to deal with.

Derrick Bird (left) and his brother David. Journalists struggled to get in touch with Cumbria police after the shooting in 2010, Mr Sullivan said.

11.24 The inquiry is now hearing about the links between Mr Sullivan and individual officers at the Met including the director of public affairs Dick Fedorcio. He agrees he was part of a circle of journalists trusted by Mr Fedorcio.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Natalie Peck - Sullivan had five meetings with Fedorcio 2004-8. Says purpose was to keep in loop of information. &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Leveson" target="_blank"&gt;#Leveson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/noframe&gt;

11.20 The relationship between the press and the police used to be much closer, accordingh to Mr Sullivan's witness statement. It says:

Some newspapers had their own phone line in the press room at New Scotland Yard, a throwback to the generation before when crime reporters were based there full-time and worked closely, at first hand, with police officers.

11.10Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, is asking whether Mr Sullivan had different relationships with different Met Commissioners.

He replies: "It's a matter of personal style."

Asked about his relationship with Lord Blair, he replies:

The Sun had a fairly ambivalent approach...I don’t think he was our cup of tea and I dare say we were his cup of tea. There was a pragmatic relationship. We weren’t overtly critical of him for the sake of it.

11.00 The next witness is Mike Sullivan, crime editor of the Sun.

10.40 The inquiry will have a short break.

10.32 A witness in the Stephen Lawrence investigation came forward on condition his name was not passed to a certain officer, DCI Driscoll says. Mark Hughes was listening and writes:

Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, the officer who led the new investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, told the inquiry that he had been told of “serious allegations” about a “senior member” of the Metropolitan Police.

DCI Driscoll said that he was contacted by a potential witness in the Lawrence case with information about the murder.

He told the Leveson Inquiry that the contact had asked that his name and address be kept secret, especially from the senior officer, who DCI Driscoll declined to name.

In his witness statement DCI Driscoll said: “The contact asked me specifically not to tell a named senior member of the MPS. They asked me to give my word that this person would not have any involvement and would not be told.”

DCI Driscoll added: “The contact originally said it was well known in Fleet Street that this person briefed outside official meetings and later added a more serious allegation.

“This concerned the close relationship between this senior member of the MPS and sections of the media. The relationship was rumoured to be corrupt.”

Mr Driscoll said that the Department of Professional Standards had been involved and the allegation was being looked at by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and Operation Elveden.

10.20DCI Driscoll is asked about the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation, which was a campaigning issue for the Daily Mail.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Sean O'Neill - Driscoll's concern is that disclosure of info about new evidence would hamper his ability to question suspects &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=leveson" target="_blank"&gt;#leveson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/noframe&gt;

10.00 The first witness this morning is DCI Clive Driscoll, a Scotland Yard detective, who led the investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

09.48 Yesterday, it emerged there were "very serious allegations" about former Scotland Yard Commissioners made in witness statements to the inquiry. Gordon Rayner wrote:

Peter Tickner, Scotland Yard’s former director of internal audit, had been due to air the claims when he is called to give evidence tomorrow, but his appearance may now be postponed following objections from the Met’s legal team.

Today he was accused of trying to use the Inquiry to “settle old scores”.

Neil Garnham QC, representing the Metropolitan Police, who has seen Mr Tickner’s as yet unpublished statement, said: “The allegations being made against people like Lord Blair, Sir Paul Stephenson and others are very serious.

"They come, to use the popular expression, from leftfield. They have not been prefaced or anticipated before."

09.40 Earlier this week, the inquiry heard from Sarah Cheesley, senior information officer, Metropolitan Police, and Dick Fedorcio, Director of Communications, Metropolitan Police, meanwhile Rebekah Brooks, former News International chief executive and her husband Charlie Brooks were among six to be arrested and released on bail by police investigating phone hacking.

09.30 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of theLeveson Inquiryinto the relationship between the press and the police.